Surprise Truce
by MandyQ
Summary: Ingredients: Luke. Leia. Han. A broken heater. A bottle of booze. Mix well and enjoy! The night before the action picks up in ESB. Rated T for "tease". Please R&R.


DISCLAIMER: The characters, starships, base, and rebellion here in this story are the peoperty of George Lucas and the people he's chosen to share them with. The lopsided grin is the property of Harrison Ford and even the other things in this story aren't mine. I mean no infringement and have not made any money from this story. Please don't sue me.

A/N: I stumbled upon the beverage mentioned herein on Wookieepedia and the story wrote itself from there. February is going to be all-smut all-the-time month for me and so this is like a little tease leading up to it. Have fun!

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"If Han is doing this to be difficult," Leia grumbled, "I swear to you: I'll kill him." Luke nodded his head in agreement: for once he wasn't going to defend his friend against the aggression of the princess he'd angered.

"C'mon Han!" Luke hollered into the com link in his hand. "It's freezing out here."

He wasn't exaggerating. It wasn't as though Hoth was ever a warm place to be; even inside of Echo base temperatures barely reached habitable. But tonight the cold was actually dangerous. The climate control computer had been undergoing an upgrade when something had failed and now it was nearly as cold inside the command center as it was outside on the ice caps.

And the command center was the warmest part of the base. There were thermal heaters, but they couldn't be used to their full capacity as many of the walls were made of ice and melting their headquarters would hardly be worth a few degrees. Most of the pilots had abandoned the 'warm room' to sleep in their fighters; counting on the self-contained atmospheres to keep them warm.

And that had given Luke and Leia an idea.

In the months that they had been headquartered here, their friend and sometime colleague, Han Solo, had refused to take quarters here on base; preferring to sleep on board his ship lest he give any indication that he planned to stay with the rebellion. It had never occurred to him that his accepting a commission and hanging around for more than two years was enough to do that. No matter: Han had a ship and a ship had a self contained environment and that meant that Luke and Leia could get warm… if they could just raise him on the com.

They stood in the hangar at the top of the ramp leading onto the _Millennium Falcon_ and waited for someone aboard to answer. The ramp was down, but the door was shut, and locked (who locks their door in the hangar?). "Han, this isn't funny!" Leia bellowed into her own com link as she struggled to keep hold of through her double thick gloves. Luke was banging his fists against the door to the ship and the two of them looked at each other as though this was becoming a lost cause.

"Keep your shirt on, highness," Han's voice called back to her through the com as she heard the distinct hiss and whine of the door to the _Falcon_ coming open. Luke and Leia smiled at each other as they fidgeted in the cold for the last moment until the door was fully open. Once their path was fully cleared, the two of them scrambled up into the ship, the door pulling itself shut again the instant they were through it.

Han was waiting for them just inside the ship; leaning against a bulkhead with his arms crossed over his bare chest. Leia wanted to throw a snowball at him. They had been freezing in the command center and then the hangar and he'd had the heat up so high in here that he could walk around in a pair of flimsy trousers and no shirt. His shoes were off, too.

"A little cold out there?" Han commented, sizing up Luke and Leia by their winter gear.

"Just a little," Luke retorted with obvious sarcasm as he began peeling off layers of outerwear. "The climate system's gone all out of whack," he explained. "It's really cold." Han turned and looked at Leia.

"How 'bout you, highness?" he said to her, "you gonna take some of your clothes off too?" Leia felt her face go hot at that comment. Han had spent the past two-plus years refining princess-teasing into something between a sport and a high art form and she had yet to learn how to let it roll off her back. He was positively infuriating. Now she really wanted to throw a snowball at him.

Unfortunately, she didn't have a snowball. And even more unfortunately, it was hot in here and she'd likely faint if she let her pride keep her in sub-zero outdoor gear for much longer. Leia huffed at him as she put down her hood and pulled at the fastenings of her parka. Luke was already out of his snow pants by the time she got her two coats off. Leia contemplated taking her snow pants off as well; she'd be more comfortable and still fully covered in her thermal silk leggings, but the idea of removing a pair of trousers in front of Solo, even to reveal yet another pair of trousers, seemed to be more trouble than it was worth.

"Just leave that stuff there," Han said to Luke as he was gathering up his cold weather gear to carry it further in to the ship. "You'll want it when you leave," he continued, "but not a minute beforehand. As you may have noticed: we keep it toasty in here." Luke nodded, piling his things into some semblance of neatness as he stripped down to his thermal silks and undershirt before replacing his boots on his feet. Leia, choosing to put prudence before comfort, settled on an additional layer. She removed only her parka, her windbreaker, her fleece coat and her gloves. In her ivory-colored snow pants and green toumin wool crewneck sweater, and still wearing her snow boots, she started toward the engine room of the _Falcon_. "You sure that's all you're taking off princess?" Han called after her as she walked away. As if she needed a reminder of why she had decided to go say hello to Chewie. A conversation with a Wookiee she barely understood was much less frustrating than one with Han Solo. "I can help you off with the rest if you'd like…" he finished.

Leia's face got hot at that and she the pace that put distance between herself and Han. Why that man couldn't be civil for five minutes in an emergency was beyond her. No; that was wrong. This was not an emergency- not a real one. If there was one bit of credit she could give to Han Solo it was that he could handle an emergency. And, even though he was loathe to admit it, he did care about the rebellion. Even though he had spent a good portion of the last three years claiming that he'd be leaving them any day; that was one particular threat that he never made good on. Han knew what an emergency was and he handled himself appropriately. But a malfunction in the base's environmental controls that would cause the whole place to freeze over was barely a minor annoyance compared to a Death Star or an Imperial detachment. To Han this was funny, not dangerous. And heckling her was funny too. She was almost beginning to regret agreeing to come here… almost. Putting up with the heckling of a space pirate was slightly preferable to freezing to death.

Leia hadn't yet found Chewie when Luke caught up with her. "Han's sorry he ticked you off," Luke offered, placing a hand on her already over warm shoulder. Leia shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"If he's so sorry," she countered, "why doesn't he tell me himself?"

"Aww, Leia…" Luke sighed. She had seen right through him. "Just forget him, okay," he encouraged, "come and have a drink in the lounge." Leia shrugged. She wasn't going to spend the rest of her night avoiding Han; it was too early and the _Falcon_ was too small a ship. Besides, it was a little too hot in here for her to turn down anyone's offer of a drink. Leia took Luke's arm and walked with him back through the corridor and into the lounge. Han was sitting at the holo table as they walked in and stood up immediately when he saw them.

"We gonna call a truce, princess?" Han asked, picking up her hand from her side and kissing it. Leia wasn't entirely sure what to say to that. He had never behaved gallantly toward her before. Was he drunk? Leia scrutinized his bearing for a moment; his lopsided grin, and cocked eyebrow were par for the proverbial course, but his dilated pupils bore silent testimony to her assumption. He was drunk. But, drunk or not, if he said he wanted to play nice, then she wasn't going to tell him not to. It was worth a try.

"Truce," she agreed with a diplomatic nod of her head. Leia took her hand back and slid onto the bench at the holo table. Han rubbed his hands together and slid onto the bench from the opposite side. Luke seated himself beside Leia and took hold of a bottle that had been on the table when they came in; likely the source of Han's unusual mood.

"Ah," Han snapped, standing up again and crossing quickly to a storage locker on the far side of the room. "Guests need glasses," he asserted, pulling open the metal door and snagging a set of three squat glass tumblers before closing and locking the cabinet again.

"Yes, please," Luke said back. "The heat in here is making me thirsty," he shared.

"Why is it so hot in here?" Leia ventured to ask Han. The former smuggler winced. He sighed and shook his head before looking back at her.

"To tell you the truth," he began, patting his ship as he spoke, "her environmental controls aren't all that spectacular when the engine isn't running. When I heard about the problems with the climate computer on the base I figured that I'd better fix that or risk freezing to death right here in my own ship. So me and Chewie got to working on it and a gauge broke and now the heat's working a little too well." Han crossed back to sit at the table with them. "Chewie's working on getting it under control," he added, setting the glasses down on the table and beginning to work at the glass stopper to the bottle that was sitting there. "It's making him more miserable than it is us."

Leia had to wonder about that. True, Wookiees weren't able to remove their fur the way she had her parkas, but she was miserable enough. The heat in here was almost stifling. She was beginning to regret leaving her snow pants and sweater on, but she surely was not about to strip down now.

Han poured a shot of the silvery liquid from the bottle into each of the three glasses, passing one to Luke and then to Leia. She sniffed at the stuff and looked at Han suspiciously; how much of this had he already consumed? She watched as Luke and Han each took a sip of the shimmering liquor without moving her glass toward her lips in the slightest. "Shoulda known," Han slurred after draining his glass, reaching across the table and taking Leia's drink from her hands. "The pretty princess is too good for a humble nip of hooch." So much for the truce.

"Give me that," Leia insisted, reaching back across the table to reclaim her glass from him and shooting the contents down her gullet in a single swallow. The liquid had barely touched her tongue when she decided that downing the beverage might not have been the wisest thing she had ever done. She waited for the inevitable burning in her throat and tightness in her gut as she swallowed; but it never came. Instead of the unpleasantness she had expected, the drink felt tingly, warm, and almost anesthetic as it went down. What taste she was able to experience reminded Leia of a strong Alderaanian herbal concoction made from freshwater plants that she had enjoyed as a young teen. Actually, Leia found herself quite enjoying the stuff: whatever it was.

But what she enjoyed the most at the moment was the look on Han Solo's face. He was just intoxicated enough that he was unable to keep his surprise from being splayed all over his features. Leia was quite pleased with having shocked him so easily.

"Well, well, highness," Han sang, allowing his amazement to fill his voice, "care for another?" His eyebrows waggled as he held up the bottle to offer her a refill. Leia shrugged and passed her glass his way. Luke held his glass out as well and Han made quick work of replenishing all three.

"What is this stuff?" Luke asked, taking a slow, small sip from his drink. Leia followed suit, this time choosing not to down the whole thing in one fell swoop. This liquor was too good to waste on shooting.

"It's called Starshine Surprise," Han answered her, taking a sip for himself. Leia had to admit that she was glad Han was sipping now as well. She'd hate to get into a drinking contest with him; she hated to lose. "Stuff supposedly got its name because those who drank too much of it would occasionally find themselves inexplicable flat on their backs staring up at the stars." Han shrugged and took another sip, "surprise!" he added to punctuate the tale. "I also should warn you," Han cautioned, looking from Luke to Leia and back, "it's not really recommended for humans; on account of it's so potent," he explained. "Now, I don't mind sharing, but I should warn you to take your time."

"Now he tells us," Leia groaned softly to Luke, elbowing her friend in the ribs as she rolled her eyes. It occurred to her when she heard the slur in her own voice that Han had not been exaggerating. One shot and she was already feeling a stronger effect than that which would cause her to excuse herself from most social situations. And on top of that, it was getting hotter in here.

"We'll be okay," an equally slurring Luke said back to her. He put his arm around her shoulders; a much bolder move than he had ever made toward her when sober. "The base is locked down on account of the climate computer. We're off duty," he affirmed, knocking back another generous sip of his drink.

"It's hot in here," Leia declared loudly, frowning at Han across the table. She was suddenly aware that she was drunk, and yet her usually flawless judgment did not seem to interfere with her having another sip of Surprise. Luke took another sip as well. Han drained the remainder of the liquor from his glass. Leia shrugged; this was not like her. Princess Senator Leia Organa was not one who imbibed spirits with impunity and Leia was suddenly very glad that Luke had reminded her of the lock down. She was certainly not necessary to a government or military tonight. Which was good. She was drunk. She hadn't ever really been drunk before that she was aware of; but she was pretty sure this was what drunk felt like.

"How come you're not feeling this stuff?" Luke asked Han, his face screwed into a most puzzled expression as he leaned across the table toward his friend. Was there a secret to keeping yourself from being overwhelmed by the stuff? If there was, Luke was going to learn. He was paying very close attention to his friend, waiting with bated breath for him to impart his wisdom.

"Been drinking it for years," Han admitted, his voice beginning to betray just how much Surprise he'd consumed over the course of the evening. "Stuff comes cheap in a lot of places," he explained, "but packs some kick," he added, gesturing toward his two suddenly intoxicated guests. "Easy to get a little bit to last a long time."

"Oh," Luke said back, his shoulders slumping and his disappointment clear on his face. There was no great secret of the universe here; just a plain old Corellian tolerance for liquor. Leia frowned as well. She was sad that Luke was so disappointed.

"You could have warned us," she snipped at Han.

"Well," he said back, hesitating while he figured out what to say next, "now you'll know for next time."

"What makes you think there's going to be a next time, flyboy?" she asked pointedly, leaning against the table in the same manner she would if pressing her agenda in a Senate meeting.

"Flyboy?" Han retorted, sounding suddenly quite annoyed with her. "I thought we declared a truce?" he reminded Leia. She shook her head at him.

"You broke it first," she informed Han, pointing her finger at him across the table for emphasis.

"You did, Han," Luke sided with Leia, whose finger was still in their host's face. "With the 'pretty princess won't have a drink' comment." Leia nodded her head once in firm agreement with Luke. Truly, she hadn't remembered how or why it was that she knew Han had already broken their truce; she just somehow remembered in abstract that he had.

"Well, then," Han said, taking hold of the hand that was still extended to him, "my apologies," he offered, kissing her knuckles again. Merciful stars! Get a few drinks into Han Solo and he just can't seem to keep his lips to himself. Leia was at a momentary loss for words as Han's mouth lingered on the back of her hand. She might have even liked it; not a thought she was quite okay with. Was it hotter in here? Leia remembered herself and pulled her hand away, averting her eyes and her blush (was she blushing!?!) from Han's gaze for a moment as she did.

Luke certainly didn't avert his eyes. He'd taken full notice of that second episode of hand-kissing and glowered across the table at his friend. Luke had pretty well come to the conclusion over the past few years that he was never really going to get anywhere with Leia; if he were going to he'd have managed to do something about it by now. He and Leia had become very close- but nothing romantic had ever so much as flickered between them. Luke chalked it up to the Force having other plans for him. But still, it was no great joy to watch his best friend flirting with the girl he wished he had.

Han shook his head and rolled his eyes at the angry-looking young Jedi sitting across from him. What was it that he'd said the first time Luke had asked what he thought about Leia…? "_I__'m __try__ing__ not to_." That was still the case. Han spent a great deal of his time of late trying not to think about her royal pain-in-the-neck the princess Leia. Of course, trying not to think about her was enough to keep him thinking about her most of the time. He had to admit that, given his druthers, he'd have been kissing somewhere other than her hand.

"It's hot in here," Leia declared again when she decided that the room had been too quiet for too long. Usually she, Han, and Luke had no problem sitting together in silence for long periods; but there was something edgy and almost dangerous about being so under the influence and Leia no longer could abide even a moment's quiet. Han realized that her comment had been less about the temperature than about the lack of background noise and sought to remedy it at once. He turned around a flipped a switch on a panel just above and behind his seat. When nothing happened, Han slammed his fist into the panel. That worked. The sounds of Tatooine dance hall music filled the little lounge, giving the three a reprieve from the quiet.

"Hey, I know this song," Luke announced. He recognized the music at once. It was a band that had been popular more than a decade prior and this song, their most famous, was in the repertoire of every lousy cantina band Luke had ever heard play growing up. And more than that, it had been a favorite of his aunt Beru's for as long as he could remember. Leia was looking at Luke with the most peculiar expression on her face.

"I know this song, too," she realized. The look on her face was just an outward manifestation of her liquor-addled brain trying to piece together exactly where she might have heard such a bouncy tune.

"You heard this song on Alderaan?" Luke asked, amazed that Leia had heard it. She shook her head; a little more quickly than she should have.

"No," she answered him, holding on to the table to steady herself while the focus of her eyes caught up with her, "not on Alderaan…" she said. "On Coruscant!" she finished after a brief pause. "It was from Tatooine, though," she added.

"Yeah," Luke affirmed, nodding enthusiastically. "Is that where you got the disc?" he asked Han. Solo shrugged his shoulders. How should he remember where the music came from? Most likely it had come to him with the _Falcon_ when he'd acquired the ship.

"Oh, and there's a dance…" Leia added, moving her feet underneath herself as she tried to remember the complicated figures of the movement she had only barely ever learned. "You can do…" she swatted at Luke's arm with the back of her hand, imploring him to help her out with the name of the dance.

"The whompellier?" Luke asked, his eyes growing wide.

"Yes!" Leia exclaimed, slamming her open hand down on the table for emphasis. "That's the one! I learned it from the ambassador's adjutant at some stuffy State function the damnable Emperor made us all sit through." Han felt his own eyes widen at her comment. He knew Leia hated the Emperor and everything he had built and everything he stood for; but he never would have dreamt in a million cycles that she might call any sort of State event 'stuffy' beyond her taste. But there was no doubt that's what she'd just done.

"You know the whompellier?" Luke half-asked, half-hollered at her. Leia just nodded, careful this time to do so without so much gusto as to keep her eyes from remaining focused. "Aunt Beru used to make me dance it with her in our kitchen!" he exclaimed. Luke had thought he'd never dance the whompellier again and he was more than a little excited at the prospect of getting that chance. He grabbed Leia by the hand and led her into the middle of the room, immediately pulling her into a dancing posture.

Yet another thing he might not have ever done were it not for Solo and the Surprise. He would have to send his buddy a thank-you note for this, or at least forgive him outright for the hand-kissing incidents. "It's been at least five years," Leia explained as Luke counted silently, waiting for the next phrase in the music to begin. The whompellier was a rather complicated and very fast-moving dance form and Leia wasn't sure that she had the recall to do it again under the best of circumstances, much less under the influence of Starshine Surprise and in this heat. And it was hot in here.

"No problem, Leia," Luke assured the princess. "This isn't a State function; I don't care if you mess up. Plus," he added, "I never learned any of the really tricky stuff. Aunt Beru had stopped making me dance with her by the time I was twelve." Leia shrugged her shoulders. Okay, she could dance with Luke; but not in all these clothes.

"Wait just a sec," Leia said to him. She walked a few unsteady paces back to the holo table and leaned against it for support. Suddenly escaping the suffocating heat in this room was worth more to her than anything Han Solo might say about her undressing. And besides; they were supposed to have a truce between them at the moment. And besides besides; she thought it might be just what he deserved to get a good look at the 'pretty princess' who was so often the object of his jeers. She was quite attractive, she knew that, and it wouldn't hurt to remind this space pirate that he was missing something delightful by being mean to her.

Leia made no move to be modest as she pulled the green wool sweater from her body; not even bothering to pull on her undershirt when it came up initially, exposing her belly and the curve at the bottom of her breasts. She tied the synthsilk top in a knot just above her belly button and then bent over to remove her snow boots. Slowly, one and then the other, she slipped her stocking feet from the clunky footwear and peeled her sweat-dampened socks from her tiny toes. She then turned her back to Solo and unfastened her snow pants. She slid the quilted trousers from her hips and then bent at the waist and followed the waistband with her hands until it was around her ankles. Still bent down, she eased one ankle and then the other from her pant legs and when she stood up, it was with the breeches in her hand. She slung her winter pants over the back of the bench at the table and pulled her thermal silk leggings up from her ankles until they stopped in a bunch beneath each of her knees.

"Now, that's better," she announced, taking Luke's hand and moving herself back into a dance posture. As they started moving in the first figure of the whompellier, Leia figured that she either looked remarkably alluring or completely ridiculous. Either way, at least now she was dressed reasonably for the temperature. She tried her best not to be obvious as she scanned their host's face to try and get a feel of what Han Solo might have thought of her strip-tease a moment ago.

Han was smiling to himself. Of all of the fantasies he had ever had of Leia taking her clothes off, and there had been more than a dozen, this was better. She was still dressed and still this was better because this was actually Leia and she had actually just done that. He shifted in his seat and tried to appear casual and unaffected as he watched her glistening, half-naked form moving gracefully in the intricate movement of the damnable dance. She was unbelievable. Han knew better than to make any remarks about her undressing or about how kriffing amazing she looked at the moment, lest it offend her and break their current truce. He wasn't sure if she would allow a kiss to cement a third one.

Leia wondered to herself as Luke spun her in the most basic of the turns of the whompellier just why it was that it had become so important to her that Han Solo find her attractive. The quick steps were next in the sequence and as she tried not to think about the order (the quick steps had to be accomplished by body memory alone or the dancer would certainly trip and fall) Leia figured out the answer. She wanted something from Han that it seemed as though he would never give to her: respect. So, to take it to his level, she had to make him want something from her that she'd not let him have: sex. It made sense in the basest form of the word.

Luke moved into the next figure of the dance and Leia caught herself giggling at their prowess in surviving the quick steps without tripping over each other. "Oh… I don't remember it!!" Luke exclaimed. He was suddenly fidgeting instead of dancing. They had stopped moving and Leia shrugged her shoulders; it had been great fun.

"It's the spin-outs now," Leia heard Han say from someplace behind her other than where he ought to be. Han took her by the waist. "Mind?" he asked Luke, who had let go of Leia when he started trying to think of the next series. Luke shook his head and spun around toward the bench, landing pretty far from his intended place. He shrugged his shoulders and slid into the seat that Han had previously occupied as the princess and the pirate counted out the music until a new phrase began. "Can you do the spin-outs, highness?" Han asked Leia, as he pulled her more tightly to him in preparation for the beginning of the phrase.

He had her very close to him; too close. Han could feel himself react to being in such proximity to Leia in her under-silks, but wrote it off as a affectation of the alcohol combined with the amount of time that had passed since he'd had his arms around a woman with a bare midriff. He knew he was lying to himself, though. Had he not been similarly affected just by his first look at that bare midriff? "If you can lead them, I can manage," Leia snipped at him. She may have been cooler toward him than he really deserved in light of what might have been an innocent question (or a polite way for her to be allowed to duck out of dancing with him while he still saved face…) but she was not about to let him presume to know something she didn't.

"Where'd you learn advanced whompellier figures?" Luke asked. Was there anything that Han wasn't good at? Luke wasn't even so much jealous of Han's knowing the step and being able to dance it with Leia as he was intrigued at just how a Corellian smuggler might have come to possess such knowledge.

"Spend enough nights in the clubs in Mos Eisley," Han offered, getting the proper grip on Leia's hand to assure the proper beginning of the figure, "and you pick up a few things." Luke shook his head and sighed. Leave it to Han to have learned it from a lady a lot more interesting than aunt Beru. He'd have to ask for particulars some day.

The music continued into the next phrase and Han began to lead his princess in the complicated sequence of whompellier spin-outs. It was turn after turn with the dancers passing each other in front and behind and with spins and complicated arm positions all in the mix. Leia noticed very quickly that her earlier problem with the inability to focus her eyes was coming back in spades; but there was no way that she was going to insist that they stop dancing so that she could let her eyes focus. However, it occurred to her that the minor motion sickness that could occur were her eyes and her body to continue having separate experiences might lead to an embarrassing bout of nausea. That would make this night much much less fun. Better to remove one experience and close her eyes.

Han had not noticed that Leia had closed her eyes. He had, however, noticed that the spin-outs were made of more spinning than he had done in several years and much much more than he had ever hoped to accomplish under the influence of Starshine Surprise. He shut his eyes to keep the room from spinning with him.

Luke had been fiddling with his glass and the Surprise bottle, so he would never have been able to settle a fight over whose fault it had been. All he knew was that he heard a squealing followed by a clatter and then mad laughter coming from both of his friends. When he looked up, he found Han and Leia in a tangle on the floor in the corner of the lounge. One of them had tripped the other, or they had tripped each other; either way they had fallen down. Leia was on her back, her head just shy of having knocked into the wall, and Han was literally lying on top of her. Their legs were all a-tangle and Luke could tell that they were having a hell of a time trying to figure out how to stand back up. And neither one of them seemed to be able to stop laughing. Luke laughed, too.

"At least we can be sure that no one's going to walk in on us like this," Han consoled Leia as he tried to get his feet under him. He almost immediately lost his footing and fell again onto Leia.

"No one would think anything was going on," Leia insisted, trying her best to push the man off of her. It wasn't so much that she didn't like his being so close; but she didn't like that she liked it and furthermore she was not about to let him know that she didn't hate it completely.

"Oh you don't think?" a sarcastic Han asked her as he got his feet underneath him again. Leia frowned at him and pointed back and forth between the two of them.

"No," she exhorted, shaking her head. "And with Luke here," she added, regarding the blonde man where he sat sipping his Surprise. "That would make for an interesting briefing in the morning." She shook her head and managed to get to her feet. "Besides," she added, walking back toward the table, Luke, and her drink. "The floor is not my style," she said, hoping to shock him a little. "The lounge is not my style," she added, leaning against the bench beside where Luke had seated himself. "In fact," she included as an afterthought, "the _Falcon_ is not my style. I doubt there's a bunk in the place that I'd find acceptable."

Han quirked his eyebrow at her. She had just thrown down a gauntlet that he was not about to let slide. If Leia was going to say something about her sexual proclivities then she was only doing it to get a rise out of him. And two could play at that. "Well, princess, the floor is sometimes the only place you've got a flat surface," he said. Nothing. Leia was looking at him deadpan. Was she that drunk? He would just have try harder. "And the bunks on this bucket aren't cut out for such things," he conceded, "all attached to the walls; can't get a decent angle. But in the lounge," he said crossing to where his friends were, "we have a better flat surface." Han cast his eyes at the game table and then grabbed it with both hands and shook at it. He was looking Leia in the eye as he did this; alluding to having had sex on the table where the princess had been served her drink just a few minutes before.

Leia did not look away. She held his gaze as his forearms rippled, trying to move the very sturdy holo table and demonstrating its sturdiness was up to the act they were discussing. And they were discussing it. She realized now, of course, that she had started a war. And Leia Organa did not surrender. Han had backed up a few steps and crossed his arms over his chest, still looking at her. She shook her head and committed herself. Leia knew that there was really no way she could out-smut Han Solo, but if she could at least be explicit enough to make it in to his league then maybe he'd be a little less of a jerk. And if she could sit there coolly while he went through his entire catalog of lewd remarks without his making her blush then she would at least be able to claim a small personal victory. Maybe this was really the idea of the Starshine Surprise, but Leia was willing to go with it.

Han took her by the hand and pulled her toward him until she was standing, facing the wall, between Han and the table. He took her by the waist with one hand and with the other he pressed on her back until she was bent over the table. "See," he said, "the lounge is appropriately equipped." Leia shook her head as she stood up and turned to face him. She was not about to spend another instant in that position. Was it getting hotter in here? But she certainly couldn't withdraw from his hold on her without a proper retort. Luckily, Leia was great with words.

"That it is," she retorted, "as long as you're not bringing back any women you'd actually want to look at." She bit her lip in mock contemplation for a moment and then added, "So I guess it hasn't been a problem for you."

"Ouch," Han answered back, smirking at her as he took a step back. Score one for the princess. Leia looked over at Luke, who was very obviously trying not to laugh out loud at that remark.

She boosted herself up to sit upon the game table, pulling Luke by his arm until he was standing right in front of her. Leia then looked Han in the eye again before wrapping her legs around Luke's waist. Crossing her ankles, she leaned back, letting her head drop for only a second before lying all the way down across the table. Luke swallowed hard, holding his breath and trying to think of something- _anything-_ that would let him keep Leia from finding out just how much he liked this… just how many times he had imagined similar. "And this is just not comfortable," she commented before sitting back up. Luke sighed as she unhooked her ankles from around his waist; obviously she hadn't noticed. Thank the Force and all that lives that he had gotten through that without anything embarrassing happening. "No place for my head," she added, "no support for my lower back…."

Han Solo licked his lips. She'd just said 'my head' and 'my lower back'. Leia wasn't just thinking hypothetically about this; she was picturing herself in this situation. Han liked that. If he had to be honest with himself he'd have to admit that he liked that _a lot_. Truly, he was thinking the exact same thing. It was lucky for Han, and his ability to handle this exchange with his dignity and poker face intact, that he was wearing a very loose-fitting pair of Dramassian silk pants; otherwise Leia would have known way too much about what he was thinking. Maybe he was thinking with the wrong head, but he could not help himself but get near her immediately. This was fun.

"But," Han injected, moving in and bumping a very confused and somewhat flustered Luke on the hip with the back of his hand. As Luke took a step to the far side of the bench, Han moved to where Luke had stood and grabbed Leia by the knees, scooting her further toward the edge of the table. He then knelt before her, his hands still on her legs and his fingers slipping just barely beneath the cuffs of her rolled up leggings to tickle at the insides of her knees. "This table is the perfect height for lots of things," he informed her, stroking his fingers against her skin. It was getting hotter in here.

Leia lay back on her elbows both to illustrate to Han the point that she was about to make and to allow her to collect herself. He was not going to fluster her this easily. Never mind that she thought the rules had been grossly violated. She had not expected him to touch her; especially not her bare skin beneath her breeches. But no matter: he would not win by cheating. "Uncomfortable," she insisted. Leia sat up straight and spun around on the table until her feet were on the bench where she had been sitting earlier. Luke had sat back down and now he scooted toward the center of the curve of the bench in order to give Leia a wide enough berth for whatever her next trick was going to be. Leia took another sip of Surprise as she slid off of the table and onto the bench. "This is much better," she insisted, sliding down to the edge of the bench, her glass still in hand. "Cushioned seat," she described, "back and neck support…" Leia spread her legs very wide and curled her bare toes around the lip of the table, "convenient place for a lady's feet to rest," she finished, looking back up at Han. Leia couldn't believe how crass she was behaving. But she had no inclinations toward being ladylike at the moment. This was a new kind of fun and, thank the Starshine Surprise, she was going to go with it.

Han smiled greedily at her. Leia wondered if maybe she was winning. Luke had scooted over even farther and was eyeing her suspiciously; as though he had figured out what it was that she was playing at. Leia shrugged. Han had dropped to his hands and knees and crawled beneath the table, emerging between Leia's parted legs. She scooted herself away from him, sitting up straight in the bench again, but not moving her feet from the where they were on the table. Han propped his elbows on the bench between her thighs and then his chin on his hands.

"The problem with this, princess," he commented, "Is hitting my head on the table." He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Down here," he illustrated, sinking back beneath the table, "I hit the top of my head." He then moved back to rest his chin on the cushion. "And up here," he contrasted, "I hit the back of my head," he leaned his head back just far enough for it to make contact with the edge of the table. Leia shrugged her shoulders and took her feet down, crossing her legs along the length of the bench, turning her profile to the still kneeling Han.

"I don't remember that as being my problem," she commented, helping herself to another sip of Surprise before setting the glass back onto the holo table. Leia clambered over to the far side of the table and straddled Luke's lap, her hands gripping the edge of the table. "See, Han," Leia said to the smuggler as he worked his way out from under the table. Leia looked over at Luke; she had recruited him to her side without asking, but he seemed pleased enough that she had brought him along in to the game. "The table can be good for leverage," she illustrated by using her hands to push her hips back against Luke with force. Luke gulped. Again he was worried that this was a little closer to Leia than he was comfortable getting with Han in the room. But he had very little choice in the matter at the moment and resolved to do the best he could not to embarrass himself.

"Until I'm with a girl I actually want to look at," Han referenced her earlier comment. "Turn around," he ordered her. Leia shrugged her shoulders and moved to do so; relieved that he wanted her to continue to demonstrate on Luke instead of insisting that she climb into his lap. There was something safe about Luke; something almost familial that she felt for him that meant that the two of them seemed to never have the kind of tension that was the status quo between her and Han. And the room didn't unnaturally get any hotter when Luke touched her.

Leia flipped herself around and faced Luke, straddling him as she had been before. "No problems," she commented, turning her head to Han and shrugging before lifting herself back up on her knees and sitting on the table in front of Luke. It occurred to her in a flash that she was sitting on a table; and not the first time this evening. Her mind went to the years on Alderaan during which she would have been severely reprimanded for having sat upon a table; many privileges would have been revoked for such an indiscretion. In fact, before today she couldn't think of any time she had ever sat upon a table. Leia picked up her glass for another quick sip of Surprise. So what? Being ladylike all the time wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

"No problems for the little princess," Han commented. He crouched down and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her from the table and turning her around a circle as he continued, "I had forgotten how petite Alderaanian princesses are," he commented. "You lack the girth of most women I know," he finished. Leia thought to form some sort of response to what she was sure was a 'small chested' remark, but Han didn't look so well all of the sudden. He appeared to be more than slightly queasy from their little spin and was very ginger about putting her down. He held her steady until he was sure they could each stand on their own two feet. Leia's head was spinning, and she figured Han's was as well. It got warmer again; she was sure of it. "You shoulder such big responsibility," Han commented, still holding her around her waist. His bare hands on her bare back felt strange; strange but good, she thought…. "It's easy to forget that you don't take a lot of physical space," he finished. Had that been a compliment? Leia hated herself for this fact, but she was sure that she hated the moment when he let go of her. But it did get cooler. Where was that drink?

She hadn't meant to get drunk, but she was sure that she was. And apparently she liked Han Solo when she was drunk. Leia didn't think that was a very good decision. Suddenly she was very interested in sitting back down. She slid onto the bench next to Luke, who was had been constantly sipping at the Surprise since they'd gotten there.

Luke looked over at Leia and shook his head. If he remembered any of this in the morning, he was going to very politely ask Han not to ever let him drink this stuff again. He wondered if it had been laced with spice; he just couldn't stop drinking it. And more than that: somehow he had sat here and let his best friend play out potential sexual positions with the girl of his dreams, who had demonstrated additional sexual positions on him. And the whole thing had seemed completely civilized. The part of Luke's brain that could think through the liquor knew better than to like the idea of Leia remembering any of this.

She was still sipping at the Starshine Surprise, as aware as Luke was of how much happier she'd likely be in the morning if this whole episode dissolved into an alcoholic haze. Not that she had ever blacked out from drinking before; but she had heard tell that it could happen when one drank to excess. And Leia had reached what she considered excess sometime between taking her clothes off and trading suggestions for sexual positions with Han. It was kind of funny. But she knew herself well enough that she'd likely not think any of this so amusing in the morning. More Surprise seemed in order.

Leia reached out for the bottle but found Han's hand in her way. He snatched the vessel up off of the table and re-corked it before Leia's eyes had time to find him. "No more, princess," Han said to her. Leia sat up straight in her seat and glowered at him. She could only hope that her glowering skills remained up to snuff in her less-than-sober condition.

"Why not?" she asked, her voice as sharp and as clear as she could force it under the circumstances.

"You've had enough," Han said back to her, walking toward the cabinets on the far side of the room and taking the bottle with him. "We all have," he added as he placed the bottle into one of the cabinets and shut it.

"Hey!" Luke slurred, just now catching on to what was happening as he raised his glass in Han's direction. "But my glass is almost empty!"

"You'll thank me in the morning, kid," Han informed him, crossing back to the bench and taking a seat next to Leia.

She knew that she could scoot over and give him more room. There was a good meter of empty bench between where she sat on one side and where Luke was across from her; all of it wide open to her. But something about the feel of Han's hip as he squeezed himself in next to her made Leia stay put right where she was. His whole body was close to her. Was it still getting hotter?

Han was trying to make as little contact with the inebriated princess as he possibly could, but it wasn't working out all that well. He had thought that she would move down the bench, maybe as far as all the way to the other side, when he sat down. Something told him now that she was not going to budge. He fidgeted for a minute, trying to get himself used to being in such close proximity to her again. Certain reactions from earlier had only just begun to calm down and he was more than a little nervous that she might notice. She was leaning forward, holding on to her glass as it sat on the table. Han found the only comfortable place to put his left arm was on the back of the bench seat behind her.

Leia noticed him as he moved his arm. The muscles in his chest and abdomen moved quite nicely beneath his skin. She found herself having most impure thoughts about her pirate friend. Leia had already figured out that she seemed to like him when she was drunk; that was- she liked him plenty right this minute. It occurred to her, though, just how wrong a train of thought that was. What would her father have said to this? What in the name of the blazing stars was a Royal Alderaanian Princess doing on a half-decrepit Corellian freighter drunk out of her right mind and lusting after a space pirate?

Leia cocked her head to the side and took another sip from her rapidly waning drink as the answer came to her: anything she wanted. She had watched her home get blown to dust, been tortured, marked for death, fought her way out of Imperial hands, commanded a fleet, helped construct the very base they were sitting on. She was not simply a princess any more, nor was she a Senator nor a diplomat nor a leader. Leia Organa was a lot of things these days; and if right now one of them was 'drunk' then so be it. Leia was suddenly brimming with pride over that revelation and she turned her head back and forth between Han and Luke as she prepared to share this epiphany with them.

But then there was the sound of a thud as Luke's head smashed into the holo table. "What the…" Leia asked, moving to get up. A rational person might have thought to go around the bench, through all of the open space, to get to Luke. But Leia chose somehow to try and go through the person sitting next to her. Han practically fell off of the bench as Leia slid out, pushing him aside as she went.

"He's passed out, princess," Han said back to her.

"I see that," Leia sniped back at him, moving to kneel beside Luke with her hands on the table for balance. "Luke," she called, reaching up and shaking him.

"Awww, leave him be, highness," Han pleaded, pulling at her arm until she stood. Leia realized she would have fought that had her reaction time been anything resembling normal. Now she just turned her face up to look at Han.

"You don't mean we should just leave him like that?" she asked for clarification. Surely that couldn't be proper protocol under the circumstances. Then again; Han would know better what to do with a drunken comrade than she would.

"He'll be fine," Han assured her.

"Are you sure?" Leia asked, still unsure that it was entirely safe- not to mention proper- to leave Luke passed out on the table like that.

"Sure I'm sure," Han answered her, his voice becoming smooth, almost flirty as he said so. "I'm just sorry it's too cold to drag him outside under the stars; make the Surprise live up to its name." Leia winced, but somehow she still found the comment funny. "Luke will be fine," Han assured her, "come and dance with me." Leia cocked her head to the side, but had no time to find an answer in her head before Han had his arms around her waist and had begun to sway them slowly from side to side.

"This isn't the whompellier," Leia managed to comment as her hands went instinctively to his shoulders.

"No," Han said softly into her ear, "it's just a plain old Coruscant slow dance," he shared. The music was pretty, Leia wondered if she might have heard the song before. But more than that she had decidedly enjoyed the feeling of Han's breath on her neck. She found the thought of that a little bit deplorable. He had his arms around her very tightly. And it was very _very_ hot in here.

"Don't hold me like that," she implored, her last modicum of propriety eking through the alcoholic haze over her brain. Han knew that it was just her being prim, as she made no actual move to escape his grasp. If anything, he held her tighter.

"Like what, princess?" he asked, bringing one of his hands to her face and tilting her chin up so he could meet her eyes.

"Nothing," she shook it off. "It's fine," Leia added. She was looking into his wicked hazel eyes and realized in that moment that she was going to kiss him. It was as though an outside force had made the decision for her and the kiss was no less inevitable than gravity or the drawing of breath. Blame the Force or blame the Starshine Surprise, but she was about to kiss him. Leia let her eyes shut as her face drifted forward, waiting for his lips to find hers.

Very suddenly Han's hands came to her shoulders and pushed her away. "No," he insisted, bringing Leia's eyes open quicker than her brain was really able to deal with. She stumbled a little and took a step back, catching herself on the chair at the control station. When she looked up at Han he was shaking his head. He looked angry. Okay- so she wasn't going to kiss him… but it wasn't _that _bad an idea- was it? "Nuh-huh, your highness," Han added, taking a step away from her.

"I beg your pardon?" she shot back at him.

"What kind of guy do you think I am?" Han asked her. Leia shook her head and looked him in the eye again.

"You don't want me to answer that," her logical brain managed to say back. Most of her normal faculties were impaired beyond function but apparently some vestige if Leia Organa the diplomat and Senator was still alive and kicking and refusing to start a war with Han.

"You're probably right, I don't," Han allowed, crossing his arms and frowning a little less. He was more than a little impressed by that moment of honesty. "But suffice to say, your worship, that I am not the kind of guy who's about to haul off and start fooling around with a woman who will be giving him orders in the morning. I learned a long time ago not to mix business with pleasure, sweetheart. Tends to make for a less than ideal workplace," he asserted. "Not to mention," Han added, beginning to pace back and forth across the cabin. He had no idea where this sudden attack of conscience was coming from, but he did know that he was too drunk to fight it. "Not to mention the fact that I am also not the kind of guy who invites a pretty girl aboard my ship so he can get her drunk and take advantage of that; no matter how forward she's behaving." Han gestured to the holo table and Leia was reminded again of just how unlike herself she had behaved just a few moments ago.

"Forward?" she defended. She couldn't just stand there and take it. "I was just…" Leia considered for a tiny moment, choosing her words as carefully as she could in her current state, "exchanging ideas," she finally decided upon.

"Yeah," Han agreed sarcastically. He was still pacing. "Ideas about all of the deviant and delightful things I could do with you on that table," he reminded her. Deviant and delightful- hmmm?

"That conversation was purely hypothetical," Leia began, now sure that she had won the earlier round and not about to concede this one. "I was merely trying to point out to you…"

"Shhhh!" Han's voice suddenly called. Leia was not sure how annoyed she was by the interruption, but stopped talking anyway. "Come here," he instructed her, waving his hand in a gesture that was anything but flirty. Was something wrong?

"What is it?" Leia asked as she stalked over to him. He was standing still and staring at the juncture of the ceiling and the wall.

"Do you feel that?" he asked, taking her hand and pulling her to stand in front of him. Leia shook her head.

"No," she answered honestly. She couldn't feel anything but his hand on her arm. Han picked her hand up and held it in front of his face.

"Now do you feel that?" he asked. Leia shook her head. What was she supposed to be feeling?

"What is it?" she asked him.

"Cool air!" Han exclaimed. Now that he said it, Leia was sure that she did feel it. There was a slight cool breeze coming from the vent at the juncture of the wall and ceiling. "Chewie fixed the heat!" Leia felt herself sigh. That was very good. She turned and smiled at Han. Bad move. He was looking at her with that damnably handsome lopsided grin of his and she wasn't sure if she wanted to hit him or kiss him.

"Oh, that's good," Leia allowed herself to say.

"You want to go to bed?" Han asked her. What!?

"Excuse me?" Leia said back to him, frowning intensely all of the sudden. "I am most certainly not going to bed with you," she insisted. "And what happened to thirty seconds ago?" Leia added, "When you were politically opposed to kissing me; and you weren't 'that kind of a guy'?"

"I didn't mean it like that," Han defended. No: he didn't sound at all defensive. His voice was calm, as smooth as it had been earlier when she thought he was flirting.

"You didn't?" a skeptical Leia asked him in reply, stepping back a few inches to look at him better.

"I only meant that you still have an early morning," he said to her. "We do too, for that matter," Han added, gesturing to the now drooling Luke who was still passed out on the holo table. "We've got to start the inspection of the sensor array and you've got to do whatever you people who are in charge do." He was trying to be friendly, but it wasn't working. Leia looked plainly at him, her arms around her waist and her head beginning to droop.

"You're right," she conceded, moving past him toward the main corridor.

"Want me to show you to your bunk for the evening?" he asked, taking a step to follow her out of the lounge.

"No, thank you," Leia answered over her shoulder. She'd been on the _Falcon_ enough times; she knew where the crew cabins were. She even felt pretty confident that she could find one that Han hadn't stuffed full of extra rations and electronic components. He was still following her when she reached the far side of the ship, where she was pretty sure she'd be able to find an accessible bunk. He hadn't said a word to her, but he was still there.

Leia reached the tiny cabin where she had slept on the way to Yavin from the Death Star and pointed to the entrance. She figured, as long as Han was back there, she might as well be sure that nothing was going to fall on her head were she to open the door.

"Yeah, that's fine," he told her, nodding his head, but keeping his distance. "There's blankets on the shelf," he added, "if you can't reach them you can call me." Great. Now he's making 'short' jokes on top of his 'small-chested' comment from before. "Better yet," Han corrected himself, "call for Chewie. He likes to put things up at Wookiee height and I couldn't reach them either." Leia smiled. Maybe that hadn't been an insult….

"Okay," she agreed, pressing the release that opened the door.

"Hey, highness," Han called to her as she was halfway inside the tiny cabin. Leia turned and looked back at him. He had come closer and was leaning against the wall opposite the cabin door.

"What?" she asked, as nicely as she could.

"It's not that I haven't thought about it," he said. Even this intoxicated; Leia had no problem identifying the 'it' to which he was referring. "It's not even that I don't want to," he added. Han stood up straight and took a step toward her, looking her directly in the eye as he did. "But the first time you and I are together," he continued, "we're going to be stone cold sober and not in the middle of a crisis."

"You sound so sure," Leia commented, "as though it's bound to happen someday." She wasn't arguing the point, per se, but she did want to know what made him so certain that they would go to bed together some time in the future.

"A man is entitled to his ambition," Han kidded. Well, half-kidded. He did mean what he'd said. He'd wanted her for years, but something had kept him from ever taking advantage when the situation might have allowed him to get what he wanted. Mostly he wanted her without the feeling that he was taking advantage.

And what he hadn't told her was that he was likely leaving tomorrow. That bounty hunter on Ord Mantell had scared the daylights out of him and he had pretty well decided that it was time to cut and run. Maybe he would be able to come back one day…. If he could take care of Jabba and get this death mark off his head maybe he'd make it back to the rebellion; and to Leia. But that was not likely to be a thing he could handle quickly. And the last thing he needed was any romantic entanglement to influence his decision either way.

Leia was smiling at him. Damn her for being beautiful. Every second he looked at her he was becoming that much more entangled. "Good night, Leia," he wished her, picking up her hand and kissing it for the third time this evening. Her mouth fell open at the gesture. No epithets, no teasing, just 'Leia'. She couldn't remember him ever doing that before. She stepped forward and stood on tip toe, placing a tiny kiss on his cheek.

"Good night, Han," she wished him. Leia backed her way into the cabin without losing Han's gaze. He only lost sight of her as her hand landed on the control and the door slid shut between them. Han stepped away and shook his head, his hand coming to the still very warm spot where her very soft lips had touched his cheek. He stumbled through the corridor of the _Falcon_ back toward the lounge. He really should check on Luke.

But he stopped himself at the door to the exit. Good idea. Han pounded the switch that opened it and stood still in the portal as the icy blast of air from the hangar hit him squarely in his bare chest. The _Falcon_ didn't have a water shower aboard, so a cold shower was out of the question; this was just going to have to do. A few seconds in front of the open door was enough to calm down all but the most persistent of Han's maddening hormones.

He shut the door again and leaned against the wall. Why did this have to happen tonight? He knew it was going to be much much harder to leave this whole shooting match now that he suddenly felt as though he had an actual shot with Leia. Kriff if all!

Han could hear Chewie grumbling something in the lounge. "Yeah, I know," he hollered back down the corridor. Another howl from the Wookiee. "He passed out," Han clarified. "What am I supposed to do?" Han shook his head as he headed in the direction of his first mate's noises. "Yeah, yeah," he answered Chewie's next comment, "It's not my fault!" Han insisted. "Just leave him, I don't care," he instructed Chewbacca as he came back into the lounge and saw the Wookiee hefting Luke over his furry shoulder. "I'm going to bed," Han declared finally, passing through the opposite corridor from where he'd been toward the forward bunks where he usually slept.

Tomorrow was going to be interesting. Han knew that he was going to have a groggy and irritable hung over princess to deal with in the morning, not to mention a Luke who would likely begin heaving his guts up as soon as he came to. He could only hope that Luke would be well enough by the time to leave in the morning. And that Leia would be somewhat less irritable when he found his moment to tell her goodbye in the afternoon. Chewie would get the _Falcon_ into proper flying trim while he was out on the sensor array and once he returned he would bid goodbye to the princess, punch the throttle, and forget he'd ever almost kissed her.

He could only hope their truce would stand.

-FIN

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Hope you had fun! Let me know... please? Remember to watch for smut in February. :)

-MQ


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